Peas and Pasta Salad

I made this dish with the Neely's Roasted Asparagus Pasta Salad in mind. However, my refrigerator is seriously lacking the ingredients it requires.  I tried to improvise with a half tablespoon onion powder instead of the shallot, 1 tablespoon garlic powder instead of the garlic, and parsley flakes for the chives.  I even substituted peas for the asparagus and Parmesan for the goat cheese.  In the end, the dressing was overpowering, and i actually rinsed the dressed pasta under cold water for a couple seconds.  The end result was actually pretty good, but it was missing that punch that I'm sure the original recipe has.  Hopefully, I can overcome the lazy and cheap aspects of my personality to test the original recipe one day. 

Neely's Roasted Asparagus Pasta Salad
(original recipe serves 6 to 8)

Ingredients

• 1 pound pasta
• 1 pound asparagus, ends trimmed
• 4 tablespoons EVOO, and extra for drizzling
• salt and pepper
• 1 shallot, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• Zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced fresh chives
• 1 (4 oz.) container crumbled goat cheese

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Add pasta to a large pot of boiling salted water and cook until al dente. Drain in a colander and let cool.
3. Meanwhile, slice asparagus on the bias into 1/2-inch pieces. Place the asparagus on a sheet tray and drizzle with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Place in oven and roast for 10 minutes, until slightly tender. Remove and let cool.
4. In a small bowl, combine shallot, garlic, mustard, lemon zest, lemon juice, and red pepper flakes. Whisk in olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Add chives. Add pasta and roasted asparagus to a large bowl. Drizzle with dressing and toss. Add the crumbled goat cheese, toss and serve.

Fettuccine Alfredo

I was so excited the other day when a friend of mine lent me her copy of Giada's Everyday Italian cookbook.  Perusing the cookbook was like watching a marathon on the Food Network, and I wanted to begin cooking after reading the first recipe.  I decided to use Giada's Fettuccine Alfredo recipe and surprise my mother with dinner.  The recipe results in cooked pasta with a creamy and citrus-y sauce that was actually very good.  I added the broccoli and chicken because of my own preference, but I'm sure you may add your own vegetables and meat of choice.  The following recipe is a combination of Giada's recipe with my personal additions:

Fettuccine Alfredo

Ingredients

• 1.5 cups heavy cream
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (from about 1 lemon)
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest (from about 1 lemon)
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• salt (to taste)
• 9 ounces fresh fettuccine (or pasta of your choice)
• 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• ground pepper

Directions

1. In a large pot, whisk together 1 cup of the cream and the lemon juice.  Add the butter and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally just until the butter melts.  Stir in the lemon zest and nutmeg.  Remove from heat.
2. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Add the fettuccine (or other dried pasta) and salt and cook until tender but still firm to the touch (stir occasionally).  Drain and add the pasta, the remaining 1/2 cup of cream, the Parmesan, and 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper to the cream sauce in the skillet.  Toss over low heat until the sauce thickens slightly, about 2 minutes.  Season with more salt and pepper to taste.  Keep the flame on simmering.
3. To make the broccoli, boil 3 cups of water in a small pot.  Wash 2 cups of sliced broccoli florets, and added the broccoli and a teaspoon of salt to the boiled water.  Cook for 3-4 minutes, and drain.  Add the broccoli to the skillet.  Using leftover chicken or slices of meat from your local market's rotisserie chicken, slice the chicken into thin strips of meat to be added to the pot.   
4. Toss all the ingredients in the pot together while simmering for one minute.  Serve immediately.

Easy Lemon Pasta with Chicken

I think that Pat and Gina Neely from the Food Network are such a fun couple to watch because you can tell that they love each other and cooking so much.  While watching one of their episodes, I was attracted to the simple recipe they used to make pasta with a hint of lemon and with chicken.  I followed the recipe exactly, except for only a few changes.  To cook the chicken, I used Perdue's thinly sliced boneless chicken breasts and seasoned them with salt and pepper.  I used 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil to pan fry both sides of the chicken at medium heat.  After pan frying them, I placed them on a plate and sliced the chicken there.  I also added one whole tomato (diced) to the pasta for color.  I loved this recipe, and it was so easy to make!

Easy Lemon Pasta with Chicken
The Neely's original recipe may be found HERE, courtesy of Food Network.

Ingredients

• 1 pound dried penne
• 2 chicken cutlets, cut into fingers
• 3 clovers garlic, sliced
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh parsley
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 whole tomato, diced
• salt and pepper

Directions

1. Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente.  Drain well and set aside.
2. Season the chicken with salt and pepper.  Heat a large pan over medium-high heat and add chicken.  Cook until golden and completely cooked.  Remove to a plate and slice.  
3. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes to a sauce pan with 3 tablespoons of olive oil and saute until fragrant.  
4. Add the cooked pasta and turn heat off.  Mix together.
5. Remove pasta to a large bowl.  Add chicken to the warm pasta and season with salt and pepper.  Add chopped parsley, tomato, and lemon juice.  Toss pasta before serving with grated Parmesan cheese.

Chicken Piccata

My mom loves Chicken Piccata; so for dinner one night, I decided to surprise her with one of her favorite dishes.  Of course, I looked to Food Network for inspiration and stumbled on Giada's recipe for Chicken Piccata.  The great thing about this recipe was that the episode video was included on the website; so I was able to read Giada's recipe as well as watch her lead by example.  I'm a visual learner, and I think the dish was successful because the video.  I was too lazy to butterfly my chicken; so I just bought Perdue's boneless and thin chicken breast.  It took a little longer for my chicken to cook than I thought it would; so the flour fell apart a little before plating.  Nonetheless, dinner was another successful Giada creation!  I chose to pair our chicken with linguine, and it was delicious.

Chicken Piccata

Giada's recipe can be found HERE (courtesy of Food Network).

Ingredients

• 2 skinless and boneless chicken breasts, butterflied
• about 1 cup all-purpose flour, for dredging
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 5 tablespoons EVOO
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 1/4 cup brined capers, rinsed
• 1/3 cup fresh parsley, washed and chopped (8 teaspoons of Parsley flakes may be used as a substitute)
• salt and pepper

Directions

1. Wash the chicken and cut any excess fat.  Season with salt and pepper.  Dredge the chicken in flour and shake off excess.
2. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, melt 2 tablespoons of butter with 3 tablespoons olive oil.  When chicken is browned, flip and cook other side for 3 minutes.  Remove and transfer to plate.  Melt 2 more tablespoons butter and 2 tablespoons of olive oil.  When they begin to sizzle, repeat the same cooking steps for the other two pieces of chicken.  Remove pan from heat and add chicken to the plate.
3. In the pan, add the lemon juice, chicken stock, and capers.  Return pan to the stove and bring to a boil, scraping up brown bits from the pan.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Return all chicken to the pan and simmer for 5 minutes.  Next, add chicken to a serving platter.  Add remaining 2 tablespoons butter to sauce and whisk.  Pour sauce over chicken and garnish with parsley and lemon slices.

Shrimp Scampi

I have never hosted dinner for a party of eight before, and the task was daunting.  First, I put together a large salad bowl that included chopped Romaine lettuce, cherry tomatoes, sliced carrots and celery, and grated Parmesan cheese. 

I also served oven-toasted crostinis that were created from French baguettes drizzled with EVOO, seasoned with salt and pepper, and sprinkled with freshly grated Parmesan.  With the oven at 250, ten minutes for the bread was too toasty-- almost broke teeth.  I had paired a salsa (made with two tomatoes, half a red onion, and the juice of a whole lime) with the crostinis, but it still wasn't enough to hide my mistake.


For my Shrimp Scampi with Linguine, I used the recipe from Tyler's Ultimate on the Food Network. I had known about hosting dinner, but didn't know what to cook until I saw Tyler's episode the day of the party.  I only had penne pasta on hand, but it worked just fine.

 

Shrimp Scampi

Tyler Florence's recipe can be found HERE (courtesy of Food Network).

Ingredients

• 1 box of your choice pasta (linguini, penne, etc.)
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 4 tablespoons EVOO
• 1 large shallot, finely diced
• 5 cloves garlic, sliced
• pinch red pepper flakes, optional
• 1 large bag of large shrimp (already peeled, deveined, tail on)
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1/4 cup finely chopped parsley leaves
• salt and pepper

Directions

1. To cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling water.  When the pasta is cooked, drain the pasta and reserve 1 cup of the pasta water.
2. In a large skillet, melt 2 tablespoons butter in 2 tablespoosn olive oil over medium-high heat.  Saute the shallots, garlic, and red pepper flakes until the shallots are translucent, about 3 to 4 minutes.  
3. Season the shrimp with salt and pepper; add them to the pan and cook until they have turned pink, about 2 to 3 minutes.  Remove the shrimp from the pan and set aside.  
4. Add wine and lemon juice to the pan; bring to a boil.  Add 2 tablespoons butter and 2 tablespoons oil.  When the butter has melted, return the shrimp to the pan with the washed and chopped parsley, cooked pasta, and cup of pasta water.  Stir together and season with salt and pepper.